BCCI backs players, rejects anti-doping clause

Mumbai The Indian cricket board has rejected the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) "whereabouts" rule, backing its players' refusal to sign up to the directive due to security and privacy issues.

The BCCI said it has no problem with players being tested as part of the WADA Code but it fully shares their concerns on the 'Whereabouts Clause', which requires them to furnish information about their location three months in advance for out of competition tests.

The decision to back its players was taken at an emergency meeting of the Working Committee which deliberated at length on the issue. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were present in the meeting.

"We are agreeing with the dope testing code, we are only objecting to the system. The issue is out of competition testing. Our players are ready to be tested but they say they are not in a position to give their whereabouts. We back the players on this," BCCI President Shashank Manohar told reporters here after the meeting.

The BCCI gave three reasons for not agreeing to the clause, saying it was unreasonable, violated the Indian constitution and was an invasion of the players' privacy.

"The players have security cover and they cannot disclose their whereabouts with a security cover. Secondly, the privacy of an individual cannot be invaded and thirdly, our constitution gives a guarantee regarding an individual's privacy. You cannot invade on somebody's privacy 24 hours a day for 365 days," Manohar said.

Yuvraj Singh later told CNN-IBN that the players wanted their privacy, which the 'Whereabouts Clause' violates.

"We are playing for nine to ten months in a year. In most of the ICC events, you are tested. But our concern is that when we are not playing, we want our own time and we want our privacy. We don't want anybody to know where we are because there are times when you don't want people around you," said Yuvraj Singh.

However, BCCI's move in rejecting the anti-dope clause has not gone down too well with other Indian sportsmen. India's only Olympic gold medallist in an individual sport Abhinav Bindra has come out in support of the WADA anti-doping code saying Indian cricketers are wrong in rejecting the 'Whereabouts Clause' of the code.

"When you are a part of a global sport, you want to fight against doping and make a stand for fairness in sport. They have a responsibilty and have to go ahead with it. The whole world is fine with it and it is really not an issue," Bindra told CNN-IBN.

The BCCI's tough stand has put the ICC in a quandary since cricketers of most other Test playing nations have agreed to sign the code. It effectively signals a fresh tussle between the BCCI and the game's governing body, which have been at loggerheads on a number of occasions in recent past.

Asked the options ICC might have in the wake of BCCI's refusal to sign the code, Manohar said it was not necessary to adhere to the code.

"WADA is a private agency engaged by the ICC. Tomorrow the ICC may say we don't want you. We can have our own dope testing mechanism," Manohar said.

BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, who was also present at the meeting, also emphasised that the players were not trying to evade dope tests but were only concerned about their privacy.

"Indian players have never objected to dope test even out of competition. We have told the ICC that if you want a player to be tested out of competition, you tell us the name and we will produce him but the whereabouts clause of 24-hour availability is a problem," he said.

The ICC, on its part, said it was aware of the Indian players' concerns on the matter and it was confident that a solution can be worked out.

"The ICC is grateful to the BCCI for its time. We are aware of the issues and the concerns but we are confident they can be sorted out. We are looking for a practical solution. The next step is the matter to be taken to the ICC Board," ICC's Media and Communications Manager Brian Murgatroyd said.

The BCCI President had telephonic discussion with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag on the clause before the Working Committee meeting.

The ICC had asked all its affiliated members to get their players sign the World Anti-Doping Agency's Code by July 31 but the BCCI was faced with the reluctance of 11 of its chosen cricketers, including two women, to comply with the code.

The 11 Indian cricketers who are part of the country's testing pool are Tendulkar, Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj.

(With inputs from CNN-IBN)